Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 132
132 the next stage of human spiritual development. Likewise, the Christians who refused to accept the message of Islam, in contravention of Biblical teachings, could not advance to the next stage in this process. The Muslims, who refuse to accept the correct meaning of Seal of Prophets, will likewise forgo their chance to advance to the final stage of this evolutionary process. It is amazing to observe Muslims going through the same misconceptions about Jesus' second coming which the Jews did at the time of his initial advent. Contrary to the laws of nature, they are also awaiting the physical second coming of Jesus as the Jews did for Elijah. This disbelief and its correction thereof has already been discussed in Chapter VII. Thus, based on overwhelming evidence from the Bible, Quran, history, Islamic traditions and science, Jesus' spiritual second advent has occurred in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. His claim to Messiahship fulfills all signs contained in the aforementioned sources. In conclusion, the fact that the consistency of prophecies about the future, which initiated in the Jewish scriptures, and are reinforced in the Christian and Muslim scriptures is astonishing. Their exact fulfillment after some 4,000 years, in spite of all the human self-acknowledged interpolations in the Jewish and Christian scriptures, is absolutely amazing. That their progression and outcome is unaffected by the numerous worldly upheavals proves conclusively that these occurrences were part of the overall Divine plan towards the eventual development of human spiritual needs. Consequently, the teachings and prophecies of the latest Law i. e. the Quran should be followed and used to the advantage of mankind. These observations further prove the existence of a Supreme Power Which is running the show. It further confirms the validity of the initial assumptions made in Chapter I regarding the absolute and unqualified unity of God. Hence, the mysteries surrounding the various religions can be easily resolved by such an analysis. It is believed that a similar trend will also be observed if this analysis is expanded to include other world religions. It is amazing that the clergy in each religion discourages and even prohibits such attempts at resolving dogmatic differences among the different religions. They should stand by their claim of guiding their followers towards God by taking the lead in resolving such matters. Instead, they have chosen to fiercely protect their beliefs like vultures protecting the decaying carcass, to use Jesus' description, by attempting to ignore subsequent facts which have since come to light. Experience from around the world demonstrates that the clergy's agenda is quite different from the above position. Their main interest is in retaining their control over their followers for economic and political purposes rather than guiding them towards God. This hypocrisy on their part is responsible for the crime and numerous diseases in the society, which are perpetuated by the clergy or their followers. It is earnestly hoped that readers will be encouraged to undertake individual research on similar lines to resolve this or other religious matters to differentiate between fact and fiction. Hopefully, such widespread individual efforts will force the clergy to reevaluate their hypocrisy and assume their proper position in such debates.